Post by Cyberguppy on Aug 16, 2005 21:38:43 GMT 10
An article found elsewhere 
For a very long time I was having trouble with guppies and their tendancy to eat newborn fry, and having equal trouble from losing females due to stress and disease after being put into breeding boxes. I came across a way of beating this problem after noticing several things:
A relative had a large livebearer community tank (60 gal) When they started they had approx 10 adult guppies and a couple of mollies and corydora with no interest in breeding or saving fry . On the first few drops of fry, only a couple lived and stayed in the weed, the next drop a few more survived and were free swimming in the tank within a week. The next few batches of fry were untouched by the adults and swimming around within hours.
As An experement I put several 1/2 inch fry (just too big to eat) fry in with a very agressive female that would always eat her fry. After chasing them and finding them too hard to catch she gave up. After a week I added some slightly smaller fry, these she ignored. Then for the test I added some 5 day old fry. She ignored them too! When she came to have her next batch of fry all 32 were safely swimming around the tank with her, But I removed her just in case
All these fish were fed on a diet of bloodworm brineshrimp and flake, I think that supplementing a fishes diet with fresh protein may stop them from feeling the need to top up on their protin by cannibalising other fish......but thats another story
For a very long time I was having trouble with guppies and their tendancy to eat newborn fry, and having equal trouble from losing females due to stress and disease after being put into breeding boxes. I came across a way of beating this problem after noticing several things:
A relative had a large livebearer community tank (60 gal) When they started they had approx 10 adult guppies and a couple of mollies and corydora with no interest in breeding or saving fry . On the first few drops of fry, only a couple lived and stayed in the weed, the next drop a few more survived and were free swimming in the tank within a week. The next few batches of fry were untouched by the adults and swimming around within hours.
As An experement I put several 1/2 inch fry (just too big to eat) fry in with a very agressive female that would always eat her fry. After chasing them and finding them too hard to catch she gave up. After a week I added some slightly smaller fry, these she ignored. Then for the test I added some 5 day old fry. She ignored them too! When she came to have her next batch of fry all 32 were safely swimming around the tank with her, But I removed her just in case
All these fish were fed on a diet of bloodworm brineshrimp and flake, I think that supplementing a fishes diet with fresh protein may stop them from feeling the need to top up on their protin by cannibalising other fish......but thats another story
